Overseas tourists continued to shun Beijing through 2013.
2013年到中国旅游的外国游客还是选择避开了北京。Amid rising pollution and a strengthening yuan, the capital city saw its tourist numbers drop to 4.20 million visits from January to November from 5.01 million visits in 2012, according to China Daily, citing a report from China Tourism Academy and Beijing Commission of Tourism Development. An earlier report based on a survey of domestic travel agents showed that visitors to the capital declined by roughly 50% in the first three-quarters of the year compared with a year earlier.
《中国日报》(China Daily)援引中国旅游研究院(China Tourism Academy)和北京市旅游发展委员会(Beijing Commission of Tourism Development)的一篇报告称，污染状况加剧以及人民币升值，使得北京去年1月至11月间的外国游客数量从2012年同期的501万人下降至420万人。此前一份基于对国内旅行社的调查的报告显示，去年前三个季度赴北京旅游的游客数量较上年同期下降约50%。The number of inbound travelers to Beijing grew after the city hosted the 2008 Olympics until 2012, when it saw a 3.8% decline, followed by the further drop last year.
自2008年北京奥运会后，北京入境游客数量持续增加。然而2012年这一数字下降了3.8%，并在去年进一步下滑。
The unexpected drop in 2013 came in spite of new policies--such as the city's 72- hour visa waiver for transit passengers--that were introduced in an attempt to nurture China's tourism industry.
2013年北京入境游客的减少可谓出乎意料。此前北京市出台了72小时过境免签等多项新政策，其目的正是为了促进旅游产业发展。But only 14,000 tourists took advantage of the visa-free stopover, according to the Beijing General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection, well short of the 20,000 target officials had previously predicted.
然而据北京出入境边防检查总站(Beijing General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection)称，只有14,000名旅客办理了过境免签手续，远低于官方此前预计的20,000人。Jiang Yiyi, deputy director of the Institute of International Tourism at the China Tourism Academy, attributed part of the dropoff in foreign tourists to the strengthening yuan.
中国旅游研究院国际旅游研究所(Institute of International Tourism)副所长蒋依依认为，外国游客数量下降的部分原因在于人民币的升值。In 2013, the yuan appreciated almost 3% against the U.S. dollar, making 'Beijing a more expensive destination than in the past,' Jiang Yiyi noted.
蒋依依说，2013年人民币兑美元汇率上涨近3%，使北京成为了一个更加昂贵的旅游目的地。At the same time, she said, other countries have seen their tourist numbers spike as the currencies weaken.
她还指出，其他国家在其货币贬值的同时呈现出旅客数量的大幅增加。'While RMB is on the rise, currencies from some of China's competitors for tourism, such as Japan, are depreciating, meaning travel to some other Asian countries has been getting cheaper while travel to China is becoming more costly,' Jiang Yiyi said.
她说，在人民币升值的同时，与中国在旅游业方面构成竞争关系的国家（如日本）的货币贬值，这意味着到其他一些亚洲国家旅游的费用更加便宜，而来中国旅游更贵了。In 2013, the yen fell 21% against the U.S. dollar, helping it to attract 10 million overseas tourists--including, despite Sino-Japanese border disputes in the East China Sea, many wealthy travelers from China.
2013年日圆兑美元下跌21%，这为日本吸引来1,000万海外游客，尽管中日两国在东中国海（中国称东海）存在领土争端，然而这些游客中有许多是来自中国的富人。The Beijing Tourism Development Commission noted that the country's battle with pollution is another obstacle cities face in attracting inbound tourists.
北京市旅游发展委员会指出，污染问题是中国在吸引外国游客入境旅游的过程中面临的又一障碍。Heavy air pollution from Beijing, which saw its worst bout of smog in recent history in January, to Shanghai, where pollution levels went off the charts in December, certainly don't do much to help attract tourists.
北京、上海等城市都存在严重的空气污染问题。北京1月份爆发了近期最为严重的雾霾，而去年12月上海空气污染指数一度爆表。严重的空气污染问题显然无助于吸引更多外国游客前来旅游。China's tourism officials are looking to reverse the trend of declining inbound visitors in 2014--possible, experts say, if it revamps its outdated tour packages and lowers ticket prices.
中国的旅游业官员正力图在2014年扭转入境游客减少的情况，专家认为，如果能对其过时的旅行团进行改进并降低票价，这一计划就有可能实现。Jiang Yiyi at the China Tourism Academy suggests China adopt a long-term national plan to improve the country's image and investment in inbound tourism to attract more visitors.
中国旅游研究院的蒋依依建议，中国政府应实行一项长期的国家计划，以提升国家形象并投资于入境旅游以吸引更多游客前来。Hopefully the experts come up with a better plan than one that fell flat earlier this year. The country's tourism body unveiled a 'Beautiful China' logo in February to market the country overseas, but the campaign was mocked for its contrast with the many photos of China's not-so-beautiful cities shrouded in pollution.
去年2月份中国国家旅游局启用一个名为“美丽中国”的标志，意在向海外宣传推广其旅游形象，然而有人讽刺“美丽中国”这一名称与中国城市在严重污染之下那一张张“不太美丽”的照片相比反差太大。希望专家们今后能设计出一个好一点的方案来。